News Release

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Man Threatens Family, Police, with Handgun NR12039kr

UPDATE:

January 27, 2012

The officer involved in the below officer-involved shooting has been identified as Police Officer II Thomas Chin.

Los Angeles: Police responded to a call of a man threatening his family, having already battered one of them. When making contact with the suspect, he armed himself with a handgun that ultimately resulted in an officer involved shooting.

On January 22, 2012, just before 6 a.m., North Hollywood Area patrol officers were called to the 7700 block of Ethel Avenue for a man acting erratically and threatening his family members.

When officers arrived they were met by the sister of 22-year-old Karapet Bulmadzhyan. She told the officers that Blumadzhyan had hit her and had threatened she and her mother with further physical harm.

Officers asked Bulmadzhyan to come out of his bedroom so they could speak with him, but he refused. Ignoring the officers continued commands to come out of the room, Bulmadzhyan instead armed himself with a handgun.

Officers retreated to the front of the residence to gain a tactical advantage. Bulmadzhyan followed them and came out of the house pointing the gun at the officers resulting in an officer involved shooting.

Bulmadzhyan was hit by gunfire. Los Angeles Fire Department Rescue responded and pronounced Bulmadzhyan dead at scene. None of the officers were injured. A revolver was recovered at scene.

The LAPD Force Investigation Division responded to the incident and will conduct a thorough investigation of the officer-involved shooting and all related crimes. The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Department’s use-of-force policy which states that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to call the FID at 213-486-5230. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.